Science and Visions
by CheynotShy
Summary: Lotor and Loki come across each other once more, but in a very different situation than either would hope for.
1. Chapter 1

He stood upon the pile of trash, taking in the sight of a city that was surrounded by wormholes, continuously dumping unwanted items from the sky. Surprisingly there wasn't a horrid smell from the ever growing trash pile, like it was picked regularly by the people rather than to let anything rot away. He looked up at the wormhole he fell out of and saw a giant piece of a ship falling towards him.

Quickly he scrambled down the pile and then felt the whoosh of air that passed over him when the piece crashed into the pile. Breathing slightly harder than before, causing the glass screen of his helmet to start fogging up. He only stared at the spot he was standing at a few moments earlier. Lotor knew that he barely escaped being crushed, but that wasn't enough of an excuse for him to stop finding a way to the city. As best as he could, he went to climb up the next pile.

Slowly he made his way towards the city, the piles of trash becoming smaller and smaller. He did spot a few fights between the people with odd masks and others who also fell out of the wormholes. Seeing what the people with the odd masks did to capture those who had fallen from the wormholes made him a bit squeamish, even as a son of the Galra Emperor.

Still he made his way towards the city, making sure he would avoid those wearing the odd masks as he went over the piles of trash. This gave him time to think of what he should do if he came across a leader in the city. Hopefully they would be easy to manipulate and if they weren't, he would make it so.

Trust can be created so easily if one acts like they could be trustful.

As Lotor climbed up the next pile, there was a sound of a scuffle going on the other side. Peeking over the top of the pile, he saw a woman standing over a body, swaying just the tiniest bit. Her hair was tied up in a way to keep it out of her face yet still appeared to be fashionable enough if she was out in public. The body near her was covered in a netting of some sort and as she grabbed the one end to drag it towards the small ship near by, his eyes widen when he saw who she was dragging.

"Well I can see where he went after he escaped my generals." He muttered to himself as he rose over the pile. The woman didn't noticed him as she continue to take his use to be capture towards her ship.

He slide down the trash pile and made his way over to the unknown woman. Just before he could say anything to her, she quickly turned around and held out a small device towards him. Even as she swayed a bit standing there, the look on her face promised him nothing good would be in his future if he came any closer.

"It looks to be my lucky day if I catch the both of you. Though you don't look to be an easy catch as this one here." She said, her words slurring together just a little bit. She stood there looking at him with the same look on her face before she kicked his use to be capture as if he couldn't figure who she was talking about.

"As much as I would love for you to capture me, I'd rather talk to whoever is in charge of this city." Lotor said, his hand gesturing past the trash piles where the city lay.

"Too bad that won't be happening." Then she lunged at him with the small device. Quickly moving backwards away from her, he saw the small bout of sparks that flew from it. He saw that she stumbled a little, not able to react fast enough to change where she could land the device. Then she stood up straight, looking at him with glee.

Still she swayed a bit as she stood there, but seemed to be thinking of a different way to get him. Then she moved to get him again and nearly got him with how quick her movements suddenly become.

Pulling a small dagger from beneath the armor of one of his legs, he managed to stop the device from making contact with his neck. Still she tried to push against his strength, wanting to have two captures instead of one it seems. He quickly moved away from both the device and the woman, seeing her stumble forward a bit as he do so.

Seeing an opening that her stumble caused, Lotor used his dagger to stab her in the arm. It didn't go in too deeply, but it was enough to cause some blood to flow out. Still she seemed to shrug it off as she raised her head to look at him. The look in her eyes almost made him want to reconsider fighting against her.

But he would fight to get off this planet whether this woman would be a match against him or not.

Making another move to stab her, he was stopped short when she grabbed at his wrist holding the dagger. Her strength while impressive, wasn't enough to completely stop him. He still tried to stab her, his arm slowly moving towards her arm to create another wound.

With so much focus towards giving her another wound for her to fuss over, he failed to notice her other arm or her legs were free.

Suddenly the one arm that wasn't holding a dagger was twisted to stay behind his back. For a moment he focused on the discomfort this caused before noticing that the front of his body was on the ground. She had put her full weight on his back, grabbing at his other arm to twist around and join the other one. Even as he struggled to get free, she still made him stay on the ground.

"As much as I would love to have a bloody brawl with you, how about I get you to the Grandmaster? He'll pay a lot for a fighter like you." She said, tying his arms together with something she had on her. He looked back her to see the grin on her face that spelled out his demise for getting caught.

"Sleep tight." She said before pressing the device to his neck.

He felt shock waves spread out through his body. The pain that followed after the woman stopped pressing there made his eyes roll to the back of his head. In the last few seconds of consciousnesses he had, he felt her take off his helmet that he wore and heard her give a surprised sound at what he looked like.

Then he was created by darkness that promised to keep him safe from reality for a while.

* * *

Lotor awoke with a start as he was placed in a chair. The woman who captured him only gave him a smile as she placed his limbs in something to keep him from escaping her capture. Before he could ask her what she was doing with him, the chair started to move forward and away from her.

The pounding in his head started to grow as the chair moved forward and a woman with a chipper voice started to talk about the planet he was on. While he knew it was useful to listen to whatever the disembodied voice was saying as he went through the vivid presentation, he wasn't in the right mood. The headache he had grew worse as the presentation went on.

And then as everything sped up around him, the pounding became worse in his forehead and behind his eyes. As he felt the urge to scream out his pain to lessen it, the woman repeatedly stated that he would met the Grandmaster.

In the back of his mind, Lotor hoped that his mood wouldn't grow worse in the next few seconds or he'll probably end up offending the Grandmaster with a snide remark. Just like how it usually happens with his father and Hagger. Then the presentation stopped so suddenly he wondered if it was an illusion to trick prisoners.

He saw a man sitting a distance away from Lotor. The grey hair along with the single blue mark that went from the bottom lip down to the man's chin lead to the other bizarre features he had. He noticed the bright, flashy clothing that the man wore and saw that it only made him stand out against the people that stood around him.

So this must be the Grandmaster.

Lotor didn't trust the glee that he saw on the Grandmaster's face. It reminded him of Hagger when she was given a new project with one of the fighters from the Galra Arena to play around with.

"Oh, he would be a lovely addition to the Arena. He would stand out easily with the skin and hair." The Grandmaster said, leaning closer to him with interest." It's a he right? Never know with these newcomers and all."

"I'm that he you speak of." Lotor spat out bitterly. The headache grew worse as he saw the excitement on the other's face grow as well.

"Speaks so eloquently as well. He would do well in the Arena, the crowds would love him." The Grandmaster said to one of the women that was near him. She looked between him and the Grandmaster, as if it was beneath her to agree with his words.

"He hardly looks like he would even last a full match Grandmaster. Are you sure Valkyrie hasn't duped you with this one?" She said, a smirk growing on her face.

Before he could speak up about his skills as a fighter against the unknown woman, another voice spoke up. "I fought him myself. He'll last a lot longer than a match I can assure you of that Grandmaster."

Tilting his head back far enough, Lotor saw the woman who had captured him earlier standing behind the chair he was in. She glared at the other woman, almost like she would fight her right in front of the Grandmaster regardless of what he thought. For a moment it reminded him of Xathrid with the way she would suggest violence for almost every situation.

Too bad Hagger had to turn his team of Generals against him. Lotor might had had a chance against his female captor earlier if he had them with him when crashing into the trash filled world.

"No need to fight. Valkyrie hasn't let me down with a fighter yet. Look at the Champion that she brought me a few weeks ago." Grandmaster said with another glee filled smile point towards Lotor. He stood up and walked over to Lotor, most likely to take a closer look.

Valkyrie came to one side of the chair, standing taller under the praise of the older looking man. Everyone watched as the Grandmaster gently touched parts of Lotor's body, almost like they were waiting to hear if this unknown person would be worthy to be a fighter.

When a hand touched one of his ears, a low growl escaped his mouth. There was a lowly chuckle from the older man as he leaned close to Lotor's face. The colour of the Grandmaster's eyes were an odd mixture of brown, yellow and green, swirling together to create what could have been a beautiful jewel to posses.

But the look in his eyes was what made Lotor grow still.

They held power beyond what he could imagine. The man could easily take down his father if he choose to do so. In that moment, Lotor forgot to breath, hoping that if he didn't move the Grandmaster would spare him.

Then he leaned away from Lotor with a easy going smile. "What's your name? Seeing what you are, I bet you have a good name."

"Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire." Was all he could manage to get out.

"Oh we've got ourselves a Prince. Hopefully he's been taught enough to survive a fight. Have him ready to participate in one of the fights in the Arena tonight." The Grandmaster said, walking away from Lotor. "Oh have the credits transferred to Valkyrie for both of the fighters. She deserves it."

"I wouldn't have done less for you Grandmaster." Valkyrie said. She had a bright smile that pointed towards the older man, as if to sweeten her words even more.

The Grandmaster looked bashful at the compliment, but Lotor knew that it only continued to stroke the ego that he had. Men with power that the Grandmaster seem to possess always had such an ego.

He was then dragged away by a guard that was nearby. Quickly they passed through hallways, almost like the guard was afraid to be caught going slower than needed. Servants swerved around them like it was daily occurrence. Soon they reached a door that stood a few feet taller than Lotor.

The guard quickly opened it and then tossed him into the room. Then the door shut with a click that sounded out his doom.

For a few moments Lotor stood in place, unsure what he would even do. Looking around at where he was place, he was slightly unimpressed. The room looked more like a huge hallway with how each end curved towards what he assumed was each other. A few other aliens were with him, not even glancing his way.

"Hello, I'm Korg." Came a voice next to him. What Lotor saw as he turned his gaze towards the new person only surprised him slightly. Korg was made up of rock, even had a few pieces falling off his body.

Well this put meeting the Balmera lower on his list for stuff he's seen in the Universe.

"I'm Prince Lotor of the Galra." Lotor said turning his gaze towards the blank wall near him. "I'm guessing that there's not a lot of ways to get out."

"No, not many. Even those who do get out get punished by the Grandmaster. So we stay and try to make it to the next match. Could be worse. We could be Doug." Korg said, walking past Lotor. He sat down by one of the circular walls, resulting in a few more pieces of rock to fall off his body.

"Doug?" He questioned.

"One of the other fighters here that fought the Champion. He's dead now."

Lotor sighed at the answer he was given. Then he moved towards one of the walls away from Korg, feeling his headache making a comeback. Sitting down, he waited for one of Grandmaster's Arena fights.

He would prove that he could fight one way or another.

* * *

It didn't take long for guards to come get the fighters in the room. Lotor followed silently with the group, wondering if he would be given a weapon or not. It had been a long time since he had to fight with nothing.

"You might want to go with a helmet when fighting. Your skull looks like it would be crushed easily." Korg said to him as they were lead into a room fill with weapons and armour.

Lotor didn't say anything back as he made his way to find a sword that would hold up during this fight. Korg followed him around, telling him what he should and shouldn't get for his first fight. He only took some of the advice as continued to try and find a sword.

On the other side of the weapon's room was a metal divider that showed what were known as Scrapers. They surrounded what looked to be a bar, creating noise as the fighters gathered their weapons. For a few moments Lotor glared at the Scrapers, knowing that one of them had dragged him into this mess.

His attention to keep glaring at the Scrapers was interrupted by Korg as he shoved a sword towards him. Taking it by the handle, the weight felt right in his hand. Taking a few practice swipes, Lotor gave a small smile at the fact he found a weapon suited for him to fight.

"Thank you." Lotor said softly, looking up at the taller man.

"No problem. Now just go find a helmet for that head of yours or you'll be screaming later from it being crushed." Korg said, wandering off to find his own weapons.

It didn't take long to find a helmet that would protect his head. Even if he knew that his skull would protect most of the damage that he may get, who knew what kind of opponent he would face. It always better to be safe than sorry in battles such as these.

As he was going to look for a dagger to use as a surprise weapon, his name was called. A guard swept him towards a door where he forced to sit down in a chair. His hands and feet were clasped to the chair, insuring he wouldn't move much. An older man came out of the shadows to him with a metal hand raised up.

"Now we cut your hair before your battle."

"You will do no such thing." Lotor growled. While he didn't consider himself vain like some of the aliens he had come across, his hair took a long time to grow and much more time to maintain it to keep it healthy.

The old man just chuckled at him as his metal hand turned into something that would guarantee that his long white hair would be cut. Still he let out another growl, wanting to show he wasn't about to give up. That's when the guard that brought him here, grabbed his head and held it to the back of the chair.

Lotor could hear the mixture of the man's odd hand cutting his hair and the laughter that he had while doing so. Another growl slipped out, angry that he couldn't do anything, not even save his hair in this damned place.

Soon he was taken away and shoved out a door. Stumbling a bit, he could hear a crowd quieting down. Looking up, he saw the battleground of the Arena. While it didn't have any obstacles like the Galra one had, it was big enough for a fight to last a while if one was smart enough.

Then the image of the Grandmaster sprung into view and the crowd was excited once more. A smile came over the Grandmaster's face before he started to speak. "Now we have someone new. While not impressive to look at like our beloved Champion, I'm betting he'll dazzle us. Here's the Prince going against Loki."

The crowd cheered once more and that's when Lotor saw who he was fighting against. Also stumbling out into the Arena, was his use to be capture.

"It's always nice to put a name to a face I suppose." Lotor mumbled to himself as he put on his helmet.

It was time to see how this would turn out.

* * *

Well this will be the first chapter of the sequel to Princes of the Universe, which you can if you're interested. Hopefully I can get the rest of these chapters out much quicker than the last fic did.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully the rest of this fic :D


	2. Chapter 2

Loki knew that when he was shoved out into the Arena and heard the Grandmaster announce who he was going up against, that his already hellish day would grow worse. Still he had to stand tall if he wanted to win the Grandmaster's favour to get his way out of fight in the Arena. His area of expertise lies far away from fighting, despite what Thor would claim about their younger days.

As he stood to face his opponent, his blood ran cold at the sight of them. His captor stood across from him, weapon in hand, ready to fight him. There was more purple skin than what he saw the last time, but it was the same shade that he saw from the hand that had found his bruised midsection. Loki was also surprised to see how short the white hair had become.

The hair barely peeking out the bottom of the alien's helmet as they stared back at him. The last memory he had of the white hair, it was long and flowing down the other's back.

So either his species wasn't one to use magic or he couldn't use it himself, as he wasn't able to save his hair like Loki had down when they tried to cut it. A thought that Loki would have to remember for this fight. For a moment, a grin spread across his face, wondering of the many ways he could fight his opponent with a disadvantage like that.

But the face that he saw on his use to be captor was one of determination. It promised nothing less than a fight that wouldn't be easy to win.

Loki had won battles with less than ideal conditions than this one in the past.

He also put on his helmet and drew his sword from the sheath that he had found it in. While he wasn't one to use weapons such as this, as he prefered to use daggers, it was more likely the possibility that his opponent would use one as well.

Prince with a sword in his hand already, took a stance against Loki. For a few quiet moments they stood still, waiting for the other to make his move. And then as quickly as possible, Prince took the first move by taking a running leap towards him.

As the swords made a clang when hitting each other, Loki got a closer look at the purple alien. The eyes were the same as he remembered them, in all their yellow sclera and beautifully blue iris beauty, The difference this time was the calculating gaze that they held as Prince took another swing at him, closer to his midsection this time.

Loki blocked the hit, feeling the force behind the hit as it was stopped. Before the Prince could take another swing at him, Loki pushed his sword back to create a stand still between the both of them. Prince took the bait and pushed back as well.

For a few moments they stayed like this, pushing their swords towards each to make the other one give up. In the back of his mind he noted that he could hear part of the crowd cheering and the other for them to speed up a bit. Loki paid no attention to them as he continued to push his sword towards Prince.

He wanted his opponent to be distracted enough for him to pull this movement off. He gave one last push with his sword before moving away. The Prince stumbled forward with this course of action, not expecting Loki to do so quickly.

That's when he felt the surge of his power coursing through his body, ready to use for what he had planned. A green mist started to form around his left hand as he raised up and then quickly slammed into the Prince's chest. The mist dispersed as Loki did this, but he could feel his power flowing from his body into his opponent.

He could also feel how the Prince's chest tried to move away from where his hand had landed. Loki knew that simply hitting someone in the chest like that wouldn't stop them completely. Momentarily shock them for sure, but still gave them enough time to attack back.

That is until his magic started to work through their body.

He kept his left hand on his opponent's chest for a moment or two before he felt his magic made them fly backwards. The dust kicked up as the Prince's body landed on the ground. Loki walked towards him, mist surrounding both his hands this time. When he stopped at the body, hearing the quiet groan as they tried to get up once more, a smirk came to his face. Then Loki's hand quickly made contact with the opponent's chest once more.

There was a low sound that came from the Prince's mouth as Loki's magic suddenly attacked him once more. The look of terror entered his opponent's eyes as he went for another hit to the body, somewhere else from the chest. It was boring to hit in the same spot over and over again.

He could hear the crowd murmuring at his actions as he let his magic continued to attack his opponent. Quickly the murmuring changed to displeased yelling when he didn't stop, most likely at the Grandmaster that his actions were not fair. Loki could also see Prince struggling against his magic, trying to get away and try a different way to attack him.

This went on for a few more seconds until he felt a growl coming from the Prince's body. Then Loki felt a kick to the back of his knee. The strength behind it was enough to make him kneel to the ground and he saw the Prince rising up from the ground. He was breathing harder than Loki's ever seen him, but it wasn't enough to distract from the fury that were in his eyes as he stood tall over Loki.

Then he lifted Loki up by the collar of his shirt, holding him in the air for a few moments. Then he was tossed away from his opponent, like he was the most disgusting thing that they had ever touched. The dust kicked up again as he landed on the ground on his backside.

"What have you done to me!" Prince yelled at him from a distance. There was horrified look in his eyes as he felt the effects of Loki's magic running its course through his body. All Loki could was smile back at him.

"Using everything I can in this fight. You expected a fair fight on this planet?" Loki answered back, getting up from the ground.

Another growl was heard and then he felt clawed hands gripping one of his arms. It was like he was experiencing that Galra soldier's strength once more as Prince's grip tightened. Loki was yanked towards his opponent to see the terror and fury in their eyes.

"You may come to regret that decision with me." Prince hissed at him. Then he lifted Loki up and slammed him into the dirt of the Arena.

For a moment he could hear the crowd cheering as the finally got some violent action. And then he felt himself being dragged back up by the collar of his shirt to be slammed back into the ground. Dust made its way into his eyes and mouth causing his eyes to water up and to start coughing.

He was slammed into the ground several more times before he was let go. Peeking up from the ground he saw that Prince was walking back towards his sword that was more than several feet from where Loki current was on the ground. Even with how his body protested against him getting up, he knew that had to if he ever wanted to get on the Grandmaster's good side.

He would not fight in this Arena again.

Loki felt his magic thrum through his body as he shifted from one form of magic to another, a familiar feeling that was small comfort to him in the current fight. He saw Prince turn around with the sword in his hand, taking another stance. Another smirk made its way to his face as he walked closer to his opponent, relishing at the slight confusion on their face.

When he got close enough to stand a foot or so away, he stopped. Even if there was still a hint of confusion on Prince's face at his actions, they still took a stance. Loki's smirk grew wider as he felt the release of his magic.

Illusions of himself surrounded his opponent, all wearing the same thing as he wore and even had the same smirk as him. He stayed still as he waited for the obvious confusion to continue. Prince slowly looked around at the illusions, the confusion gone from his face. Instead it was replaced with a knowing look.

"Well I'll give you credit for this little trick. Still won't be enough against me unfortunately." He stated borely as he shifted his stance once more.

The smirk that Loki had turned into a small frown as this statement. "I was unaware that you knew of magic from the way you panicked earlier. Seems that your kind does have some form of magic if you are at ease with this."

"While I may not perform magic like you can Loki, I grew up with magic around me being used to further our race. Never did they use it to fight with each other." Came Prince's reply. "Though if I ever get back to them, I may have to suggest that start using it for battles. It may do them some good."

And that's when he quickly attacked some of the illusions, quickly taking them down. While Loki had magical energy to create the illusions, he needed enough if he wanted to corner Prince to strike him down. So he created more for his tall opponent to strike down as he slowly tried to lead him towards the wall of the Arena.

This went on for a few more minutes. Prince taking the illusions down as quickly as he could produce them. Loki noticed that they seemed to enjoyment at the fact that they could tear at his illusions so easily. It reminded him of Thor when they were younger and went on adventures where the blond could take down a terrible beast.

It was not a comfort to find someone who had Thor's younger quality fighting him.

When the both of them were close enough to the wall, Loki joined his illusions in fight against Prince. He gave them some power to use, wanting to get everything into the right position for his plan. Still Prince fought against them with ease that Loki hasn't seen in any other alien race he's come across. It was almost captivating to watch if he was being honest.

At his waist hung a dagger he had managed to snag on his way out of the weapon's room when they tried to cut his hair. He had put an illusion over it before entering the Arena to keep it hidden from his opponent to use as a surprise attack if needed. Picking up from his waist, Loki knew what he needed to do

As the illusion of the dagger faded away, Loki positioned himself closer to his tall opponent as they continued to fight off illusion of himself. Even if they were a good fighter, there was still the flaw that they got too caught up in the thrill of the fight. He saw an opening in the fighting and went to stab at the stomach, embedding it as deep as it could go.

There was a surprised yelp from Prince as he felt it going in. Loki could see the surprise as well in his eyes and it felt satisfying to say the least. Taking the dagger out once more, he gave another wound that was close the other one that he had given.

Then Loki used his magic once more to making Prince fall to the ground face first. All he could hear was the shouts of the crowd mix in with the gasping breaths of his opponent as he stepped closer to the body. The purple skin had lightened up almost to what must be considered a pale shade for the species. Loki kneeled down beside the body and turned the head towards him, so their eyes could meet.

There was terror in those eyes as he focused on them in their beautifully colour.

"I guess I win this. Consider this payback for what you did to me when kidnapping me back them." Loki said as the yells from the crowd continued.

"I don't know what you're talking about. My Generals said that you escaped from their grasp when I left to meet someone." Prince managed to say in between each breath he took. Loki frowned at this.

"Then why did your one General, Axca, sell me off to Thanos saying I was a threat to her leader?" He hissed as he pulled off their helmet and gripped the short strands of hair. "You were their only leader that I saw them with. What am I to assume from that other than it was you who told them to sell me off?"

For a few moments they stared at each other, drowning in the sounds of the crowd for them to start fighting again or that Grandmaster to do something. Loki waited as the gears in his opponent's head started to move and there was sudden anger in those beautiful eyes.

"She did this. Even before the news about my father, she was planning my demise." Was all he hissed out as he tried to get up. Then Loki saw that the pale purple skin started to change colour before his eyes.

Releasing his grip that he had in the other's hair, he stared in shock at what was happening before him. While he was use to shapeshifting himself and had seen a few other sorcerer's do it themselves, the way Prince was doing it was nowhere near that.

While for Loki the process was quick, almost appearing instantaneous to the untrained eye, this was something else. The new skin colour that was a lovely shade of brown, moved slowly down the body and it even gave his opponent more of a slimmer appearance.

But the eyes were still the same shade of blue.

As the transformation completed, Prince tried to get up once more and fell back to the ground. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was out cold.

Loki could vaguely hear the announcement of his win, as he carefully touched the brown skin. Somehow his use to be capture still managed to surprise him at every turn.

* * *

It was short while after his fight that he was brought to see the Grandmaster. Loki saw a few of the servants standing close to where the older man sat, but they gave the appearance of trying not to seem to interested about what would happen between the two of them.

He was also curious as well.

He came up to the seat and made himself be seen. The Grandmaster only glanced at him before motioning to come closer. Loki did so and waited for whatever the man wanted to say to him.

"It seems you kept something hidden from me before I sent you out into the Arena. Care to tell me what that was?" Came the Grandmaster's questioning voice.

"Simply magic that I had learned. A sorcerer always uses what he has learned in life and in the battlefield as my mother once told me." He answered, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible. There was a huff of laughter from the Grandmaster at his answer.

"I can agree with that since that's how I built this city, I'd rather be the only one who uses it." There was a look from the Grandmaster as he said that, that made him look away.

"Of course. You wouldn't need your citizens rallying behind someone new that could take you down."

"Well you could still use your magic. Just not in the Arena." The Grandmaster paused before continuing. "The citizens rather have a fair fight with nothing magical. Though I suppose it does give Prince another chance to prove himself a great fighter when he has healed his wounds."

"I'm sure that he'll make a fast recovery Grandmaster." Loki said.

"Hopefully when he does, he'll show us what his royalty status has taught him. His skill with the sword in your fight was impressive. He may gain a following like the Champion." Grandmaster said with a cheerful smile.

Loki's blood ran cold again when he heard what was stated about his opponent. "Royal status?" He questioned.

"Said to claim that he was Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire. Never heard of them, but it seems like a resilient group of aliens if he was able to last that long against your magic." Grandmaster said.

His use to be captor started to grow even more mysterious and it had only been a day since arriving at this planet.

* * *

Well I hope that was an enjoyable chapter for you guys! It was certainly fun for me.

The next chapter will be up soon. :D


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up injured and with a headache was not something Lotor wanted. Still with a wince at both things, he shifted his body to find that his skin was still the same warm brown colour that he had towards the end of his fight in the Arena. He wasn't use to shifting between his Galra and Altean skins as it seemed to take longer than what Hagger deemed acceptable when she tried to teach him how to do it when he was younger.

The only way to shift between the two skins faster than when he tried on his own was when he was filled with adrenaline during or after a battle. It was slightly disappointing that he couldn't do anything better than that when he saw how easily that Hagger could shift between different alien races.

At that point in time it made him feel even more alienated then before that he couldn't really connect to either side of his heritage without being seen as weak. Now he used it to surprise those who challenged him to a duel, relishing in their confused face when he shifted from Galra to Altean.

Lotor continued to move his body to see what kind of room where he was sleeping. To his surprise he didn't find he was in the odd circular room where they kept the gladiators, but instead was in a room that was meant for a injured person to stay in.

It was light brightly with sunlight coming in through several windows and had the colour scheme of yellow and white. It held the basics for furniture for someone to stay short term and then leave when they needed. But even if it was several pieces of furniture, they were well crafted in Lotor's eyes.

Looking to the one side of his bed, he saw the bedside table holding a pitcher and cup. Moving as best he could, he poured a clear substance into the cup and drank it as slowly as he could. It was a mistake he remembered well when he was injured and tried to down something for it to end up back outside his body since his stomach couldn't handle how fast it came in.

It was an experience he wished to never repeat, no matter how thirsty he was after waking up from an injury.

As he slowly drank the mysterious liquid, he looked out one of the closer windows. Lotor saw the tall buildings and several portals that hung around them. They varied in colour from each other, different from the light blue portals that the Galra and Paladins of Voltron used. Still it was welcoming change after the battle he had that resulted him becoming injured.

While he knew that Loki had every right to harm him after what Hagger had done to get rid of the new alien to Thanos, getting hurt was a blow to his pride. Lotor was regarded by his father's milita as being excellent with the sword and how far he could plan a battle in advance. He took the compliments and praise with everything he had because he felt he deserved it after what his father did to make him that good.

The trainers who would throw everything at him in practice regardless if he was expecting it or not, the lessons with strategists during downtime or when he was injured and the lectures he was given by Hagger about what it meant to be the son of a Emperor who ruled the biggest Empire in the known Universe.

Even if his father still didn't view him as being the level of good that he hadn't achieved yet in his eyes, Lotor knew that he was better than any of those soldiers. They could only ever hope of ever achieving so much skill in a short amount of time that his whole life had been crafted around. Lotor took the praise was that was given to him by the same soldiers who had given him hassle for being half breed, for being smaller, for being so serious.

If he didn't, how else would rumours of his supposed spoiled image spread to make them underestimate him more?

His eyes moved from the window to the entrance to the room where a servant had walked in. They didn't say much as they checked his injuries and gave him a sponge bath to keep him. As they did that, Lotor focused on shifting back into his Galra form. It was painful to watch how slow his skin change from the warm brown to light purple and his height growing the extra few inches that his Altean form didn't have.

One way or another, the next time that he saw Loki there would be enough anger in him to take down the other man if he choose to do so.

It only took a week before he was allowed back into the room where gladiator stayed. Korg greeted him kindly and even offered to get him something to eat while it was still there. All Lotor could do was nod yes before the rock alien was off.

He was told by one of the medical staff that he still had to stay outside of the fights in the Arena for a few more days. It would give him some more rest that supposedly needed and the healed wound a chance to heal itself just a bit more. And then he would be allowed to tear into his opponents as he pleased.

Lotor didn't mind since he's done this before when he was younger. Sometimes when the strategists that taught him would showed him matches in the Galran Arena and make him tell what both of the gladiators were doing wrong as they fought. They told him it was an excellent way of learning different ways of fighting and what one would do to correct themselves in the heat of the moment.

When it came time for the rest of the gladiators to do their own fights, Lotor joined them. He would need to see how everyone fought if he wanted to win more and impress the Grandmaster after the his failure of his first fight.

After a few days of doing this, he was cleared by one of medical staff to fight.

Everything that he had learned about the other gladiators during his time injured were used during his fights. He was ruthless in his fights, spending no more than ten minutes on each one. Lotor would have spent less time on them if it weren't for the crowd making him lasting around ten minutes. The louder they cheered at his actions that seemed mystifying, the better his chances were that they would forget his first fight.

Soon his gladiator name was the first thing he heard each time he entered the Arena. In an odd way it was nice to be appreciated for his skills that he had learned his whole life how to do, even if it wasn't by people he wouldn't ever see.

His fights went on for a few more days. And soon he saw a familiar face staring down at him where the Grandmaster sat in the Arena during one of his fights. It was only a moment that he saw Loki's face before returning his attention back to his fight, but it was enough for his well contained anger to bubble back up.

It didn't take him much longer to finish up his opponent, leaving enough of them for the medical staff to heal up.

Looking back up at where the Grandmaster sat, he quickly found Loki. All Lotor could see how dressed up the other was, a sign that they were being treated well. It was enough for him to stab the sword that he had taken into the fight into the circular wall of the Arena and leave it there.

He expected that Loki would take it as a warning to never come near him again, if he never wanted to face Lotor's wrath.

It was a week after continued fights and sending Loki more cryptic signs after his fights that a new gladiator was brought to the Arena. Lotor noted the colour of the hair, not anything he has seen from other alien races yet in his travels. The length of the hair that the newcomer had wasn't as long as Lotor's used to be, but it was long enough to make him miss it being a longer length.

It was also noted how the man carried himself, like he was a well trained warrior. It reminded Lotor of some of veteran soldiers that he had met during some of his father's meetings.

Still Lotor observed from the floor how the other man was trying to find a way out of the circular room where they were kept. Wasted effort to the others as they glanced away and went back to talking quietly amongst themselves.

Korg however introduced himself to the newcomer, being the most friendly one out of all of them. "Hello, I'm Korg. Welcome to the Arena. I'm made of rocks. You don't need to be afraid unless you're made of scissors."

"I am Thor, son of Odin. I must find a way out of here to return to Asgard." Was all the newcomer said before running in one direction on the room. Lotor looked up at Korg, raising an eyebrow at the actions of Thor. All Korg did in return was shrug at him.

As Lotor made himself get up to also greet the newcomer, Thor came back around the room. Well that proved Lotor's hypothesis that the room did seem to connect together. He would have done it himself, but he didn't want to appear foolish after his first fight while he was still injured.

"What is this room? Why did it do that?" Thor demanded as he turned to the both of them.

All Lotor could do was chuckle at Thor's question. He knew that being here at first brought the fight or flight senses out in the worst way, but it was amusing to see it someone else rather than himself. "It seems our friend has discovered what the room does." He said to Korg.

"Oh yeah, no, this whole thing is a circle. But not a real circle, more like a freaky circle." Korg said, trying to explain how the room worked. Lotor doubt anyone besides the Grandmaster could make any sense of the room where the gladiators were kept.

"This doesn't make any sense." Thor said incredulously.

"No, nothing makes sense here man. The only thing that does make sense is that nothing makes sense."

"It's best to not think how this place works for your mind and others around you. It tends to make the gladiator fights much less interesting in the fights aren't a decent length." Lotor said, trying to make Thor focus on not escaping. He knew that there was only one punishment that the Grandmaster gave out that nobody ever survived.

Even if Lotor wanted to escape this place, he knew that the chances of doing so that were successful were extremely low.

Still it seemed that Thor was more single minded than he had anticipated. "Has anyone here fought the Grandmaster's Champion?"

"Yeah. Doug has. Hey, Doug. Could you come over here?" Korg paused before remembering what had happened to Doug." Oh, yeah. I forgot. Doug's dead. Anyone who fights the Grandmaster's champion perished. You're not actually thinking about fighting him, are you?"

"Yes I am. I'm gonna fight him, win and get the hell of this planet!" Thor declared as he turned away.

They watched as he walked away, not sure what they should say after that kind of declaration. It was what Korg had said. Nobody survived the Champion's fights for the simple fact that he was unbeatable, even with brash his fighting style was. Even Lotor doubt he would be able to take on the Champion despite watching those matches closely.

Then a smile came over Lotor's face as he looked at Korg once more. "Wanna bet if Thor gets knocked out by the Champion by the ten minute mark?"

"I bet by five minute mark."

Soon the Gladiators were taken to the weapons room, milling around to find a weapon they would need. Lotor had left Korg and Thor alone, wanting to quickly find his usual weapons before some else tried to snag them. He knew is match wouldn't be the first one, seeing it on the board that was hung on the other side of the room where the scrapers were.

He saw Valkyrie for a moment over there, buying a drink from the bar. He didn't hate her as much as he did those few weeks ago. Now he reserved that hatred for Loki whenever he was in the Arena.

As Lotor turned away, he saw Thor making his way to the divider and started to yell at one of the scrapers. He just went on his way to find his weapons, not interested in whatever the newcomer was trying to do.

Sometimes it was better not to get involved in drama that didn't involve. Something Lotor wished he had done when Hagger had called him many months ago. He might still have his team of Generals, trying to gain further trust from those who were under Galra Empire.

He sighed as he joined Korg by the side of the Arena where they could watch other gladiator fights. The stadium was filled the crowd holding signs and things with the colour green on it, meant for their favourite fighter the Champion.

It took several minutes before Thor entered the Arena. He looked around questionably, like he was expecting his opponent to be there already, waiting for him. Lotor gave a huff at this reaction, only slightly amused by this.

Then came in the Champion himself, barreling in with a scream that shook the Arena slightly. The crowd screamed their appreciation, loving every second that their Champion was there.

"Yes!" Thor joyously cried out. He turned to the crowd, continuing on. "We know each other. He's a friend from work."

All the gladiators around Lotor were all shocked into silence when they saw this reaction. He was also mildly shocked as well, but considering that their new gladiator had acted odd before about escaping this place, it didn't surprise him like it did with the rest.

"Still betting for the 5 minute mark Korg?"

"I'm going for the eight minute mark now. Still don't think he would last long enough for ten minutes." Korg answered, still looking shocked.

"Hope you're right, since that means giving half of your food if you lose." Lotor said, interested in how this fight would go. He didn't need the extra food, not with how much they fed them. But it was fun to bet over fights when he knew the likely outcome to do so.

And then came the phrase that changed his whole perspective on both Thor and Loki once more. "Loki! Look who it is!"

Everyone just knew everyone around here. Lotor could only sigh before the fight begun.

* * *

Well here's an update! Was a lot of fun to write.

Hopefully it was enjoyable to read :D


	4. Chapter 4

It was a day and a half after Thor's fight with the Champion, that Lotor saw Loki. He appeared out of thin air in front of with Lotor a small smile on his face and wearing clothing that made him blend in more with the servants and people of this world. There was also the fact that Loki had somehow kept his hair from being chopped off.

All Lotor did was roll his eyes at the display, unimpressed by all of it.

"Should I give you any gratitude for even appearing after what you did to me in that fight or would that be too much?" Lotor asked, venom filling every word. His anger started to boil up once more and he wished once more he could let it loose.

"As much as I would apologize for what happened to you in that fight, as it seems to be an old wound for you, I would rather talk about what to do about Thor's little escape plan." Loki said, taking a step towards where Lotor sat. "Though I may be able to relate to your shifting issue."

With a soft and bitter chuckle, he replied "You don't get to try and talk to me like equals after forcing to me through a painful shift like that. That is only reserved for those who have gained my trust. Now talk about why you think Thor would try to escape after being knocked out like that by the Champion."

For a few moments Loki didn't speak. His head was tilted and his eyes searching Lotor, like he didn't quite understand the commanding tone that came out of the Galra's mouth. Lotor just glared back, wondering if it was Thor was even what the other man wanted to talk about in the first place.

"Thor by nature is stubborn. Something like losing the fight with the Champion wouldn't keep him from trying escape again. Once he's set his mind to something, it will take a lot to convince him out of it." There was a pause and Lotor could see a shudder run a course through Loki's body. "And he'll probably try to convince the Champion to join him in escaping."

"If he manages that then he will have no problem escaping. It still doesn't explain why you came here to talk to me about that."

"You were the only other one that I could trust with information such as this here. Valkyrie would try to use it to either tell the Grandmaster or escape with him. Same with anyone else here." Loki admitted reluctantly. His eyes drifted away from Lotor's face, like he was remembering something else unrelated to the current conversation.

"I want to escape with Thor as well. I have pressing matters other than fighting here that I need to attend to, mostly concerning about taking my father off his throne. Think you could manage that for me?" Lotor said, snapping the other to attention.

"I could as long as you travelled with Thor. Anymore ships getting away from the Grandmaster's docking bay and he'll suspect that it was me, not a fluke like everyone else."

"That's all I need." Lotor said with a sigh. He really needed to get back to the Empire, even if he didn't have anyone to help him to take it over. Maybe he would go to the Blade of Marmora or the Voltron team to help take down Zarkon and somehow convince them that it would better that he was in charge rather than his father.

Silence came between them as Lotor thought that. He didn't noticed the look that Loki had on his face, conflicted whether he should continue the conversation with the gladiator or just leave. For a few moments it stayed like this, with the one deep in thought and the other left floundering.

"You better leave before one of the other gladiators notice the hologram of yourself. It wouldn't bare well for the escape plan that Thor has if he is caught before it even begins." Lotor said, still not looking Loki in the face.

For a few moments Loki just stared at him. The look on his face was conflicted like before, but still he left just as quickly as he came.

It was later that same day that Lotor quickly guided Korg and anyone else that followed the both of them towards the ship hanger. While the Grandmaster wanted to them to search for the Champion, Lotor knew that it was a perfect chance to escape. The chaos that Thor had created along with them being allowed to walk free to get the gladiator gave them everything they needed to escape without the chance of being captured.

As the group left the elevator to find one of the other ships that Thor didn't take with him, Lotor saw what laid on the floor. As Loki shook on the floor with the electrical pulses that the raider's strange machine caused, Lotor wondered if he would need the other's help when he wasn't needed anymore.

It wasn't like they agreed to escape with each other after all.

It must have taken him to long to decide because Korg took a step forward to introduce himself. Lotor signed to himself as he watched his acquaintance trying to talk to the man on the floor, like he was expected to carry on a conversation that way. He looked around the docking area, trying to find the remote that controlled the raider's strange machine.

It only took him a few seconds to see where the control was. Lying on the floor where it was too many feet away from Loki for him to grab it, Lotor quickly picked it up. Walking back to where Korg stood, he crouched next to Loki and held the controller close to himself.

"Now I know we didn't agree to escape with each other, but it seems my friend Korg here wants you to join us," He said, tilting his head a bit. He could felt the end of his hair brushing against the nape of his neck and for a moment felt himself longing for his longer hair. "That would require the both of us not trying anything to sabotage each other to do so. So do we have a deal?"

The seconds dragged out as Loki took his time to decide whether teaming up with Lotor and the small group of gladiators would be beneficial. Lotor moved the controller away from his body and started to play with it above the other man, trying to make that decision making move faster.

There was limited time with the Grandmaster wanting to have his champion back and all.

Then there was a nod that took everything Loki had to do and Lotor smirked. Pressing a button on the controller, the electrical shocks stopped and Loki looked extremely relieved that it had.

"I do hope that we're following Thor since he's the one to cause this mess." Loki said simply, gesturing to his body. All Lotor did was roll his eyes.

"I suppose so. Overthrowing my father can wait for a few more months since I need more than just me going up against him." Lotor said, walking towards the surrounding ships. They needed to leave if they wanted to escape the Grandmaster and catch up with Thor quickly.

"Well since he left with only his two other companions to fight my sister, Hela, it would fare well for the both of us he did. He may help you with taking down your father." Came Loki's reply.

Lotor stopped short at that. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the carefully blank face. It made him grind his teeth, slightly annoyed at the other man for trying to think ahead when they had a truce about it. "As much as I would love your brother's help, I would rather ask him than you telling me that he will. I don't make deals with those who try to speak up for everyone."

He watched for Loki's face, seeing the subtle signs of being caught. Lotor might be manipulative in his own right when it comes to the Galra army and soldiers, but he was more upfront with the regular citizens of the world that the Galra had taken over. It felt like the least he could do after the misery that his father caused for his galactic take over.

That's when Korg spoke up, breaking the eye contact that the two had. "Well let's go start a revolution. Lotor you have any idea which ship we could use?"

"I do. Follow me." Loki said curtly.

The small group of gladiators followed the man, wanting to escape as badly as Lotor did. It didn't take long to locate the ship and for them to get it fly. Lotor watched as the group settled into the ship, talking quietly with each other. Loki stood beside Korg who was piloting the ship. Smoothly they left the hanger and quickly as they could moved towards one of the portals in the sky.

For a few minutes, everything was fine. Lotor kept any eye on Loki as the man directed Korg where to go. Still something in his gut was telling him that that something would happen to them, despite escaping from the Grandmaster's clutches easily.

It didn't take the Grandmaster a long time to notice that one of his other ships had left. Several ships surrounded them and he could see Loki tense up slightly at this. With a sigh, he got up and walked to the pilot's area.

"If you let me pilot this and have one or two of the gladiators use the weapons that are equipped to this ship, we'll get out of here fine." He spoke up. He noted of the small jump that Loki did and made sure not to say anything about here or in the future.

"I could get someone to join me to do that." Korg said quickly, getting up from his seat.

Swiftly Lotor sat down and took the controls into his hands. The familiarity of piloting a ship washed over him and all he could do was smile as he pushed the craft to go faster. All he did after that was focus on dodging other ships and giving the gladiators to shoot down any that pursued them.

He didn't notice the look of surprise on Loki's face at how skilled he was at piloting nor the begrudged respect that the other suddenly had. All he did was speed towards the portal that Loki was directing him towards.

"Once you get past these ships, you'll make your way up to the Devil's Anus." Loki yelled over the excited shouts of the gladiators behind them.

In that moment Lotor gave a laugh at the absurd name. "What a rather unfortunate name for such a powerful portal. I don't think any of druids would approve of it."

They rushed past another group of ships, watching as they fell down due to the accuracy of the few gladiators aim. For a beat or two, Lotor felt pride in how he took command. Perhaps he could lead an army of rebels against his father once he was through with this adventure.

Someone needed to command the rebels much better than what Voltron was doing these past few months after all.

Another few minutes of this and then the ship went upwards to the portal that they needed pass through. Lotor concentrated on making sure the ship would be able to pass through, not wanting to cause anyone's death unless it was necessary. Beside him Loki just stared at the size of it, the look of unrestrained awe donning his face.

"Get ready for some more forced sleep. Passing through portals like this one requires that." Lotor said, letting go of the controls. They were close enough that him piloting wasn't needed anymore. The ship drifted into the portal at the same speed.

The last thing he could remember consciously was the loud laughter and shouting of the gladiators. Then darkness swept over his mind and forced him into a deep sleep.

Waking up from the passage through the Devil's Anus portal was something he never wanted experience again. A light layer of frost covered his body and the controls in front of him. Moving his body up from the control panel, Lotor could feel and hear the frost cracking as he did this. With a sigh, he forced himself to see what the rest of the ship and crew looked like.

Frost covered everything in sight and Lotor groaned at how the cold was starting to seep into his body. Turning himself back into the chair he looked over at Loki to see if the man was alright and saw something that surprised him. His skin was a dark blue colour that covered every inch of visible skin and was free of any of the frost that the rest of the ship was covered in.

Lotor could also see horns coming out of the forehead, covered in the same blue and he moved closer, wondering if this was another of Loki's trick or that the man could shift just like him. As he moved closer he could see that the skin wasn't just one solid colour of dark blue. There was patterns that looked like they were engraved into skin and looked to be a shade or two lighter.

They must have some type of meaning for where Loki had come from, seeing as there wouldn't be much reason for someone to that to themselves. Not unless it part of a culture or maybe even something that happened naturally from whatever species that Loki came from.

Lotor wouldn't know unless he asked Loki himself or the man told it by his own account.

Leaning back into his seat, Lotor noticed out the window that the ship slowly moved towards something. Pressing a few buttons on the control panel, he managed to turn on the heating system that the ship had and waited for the cold that had managed to seep into his body to go away. For the next few minutes, he watched out the window to see if he would have to press the ship to go faster.

Then he heard a startled gasp next to him. Lotor didn't say anything as he watched Loki wake up and try to calm down from whatever happened in the dream he was in. He didn't know how long it stayed like that, waiting for whatever Loki would say to him after he had calmed himself.

"I'm guessing that being forced to sleep like that isn't pleasant. Especially looking like that." Lotor commented quietly. Loki glanced down at his body, seeing the blue skin that had taken over in his sleep. Then he looked in his direction, likely wondering why Lotor would be willing be the one to start a conversation with him.

"I haven't been able to get good sleep in a long time. Ever since you told your generals to sell me to Thanos." He said bitterly to Lotor. Still the look on his face didn't change.

"I'm sorry that they did that to you. But I guarantee that it wasn't me who ordered them to do it." Lotor said. It was beyond obvious who had told them to do that since the incident with Narti happened weeks ago. If he didn't despise Hagger before then he definitely did now with both Narti and Loki being prime examples.

"Then who other than their leader would order them around? It seems like all the evidence points to you no matter how I or others look at it." Loki spat at him. There was furious look growing in the man's eyes, likely to attack him if he didn't stop talk about the given subject.

"I know how it looks. But I wouldn't have ordered them to do something like that. If it's possible to hate someone more than my father, then Thanos would be that person," Lotor explained calmly. "No this was the work of Hagger, my father's adviser to create an enemy to fight against me someday. That's her way of doing things and I despise it."

Loki studied him, taking his time to detect any form of lying. "I'm hesitant to believe you after everything, but for now I'll take your word that you possibly didn't sold me off to Thanos."

"I'm also sorry that you had to experience whatever Thanos has done." Was all Lotor could offer as comfort. The few times that he was forced to met that cruel man have left him feeling disgusted. As much as he hated how Zarkon ruled, at least he didn't make it a personal goal to torture every victim that came across him like Thanos has done.

They went silent for a few minutes. He watched as Loki quickly changed his appearance from one form to another. It peaked his interest that there was more than one specie of alien that could shift like that. Maybe he could get a lesson or two from the other man. Even if it's been years since he's felt the desire to shift between the two forms, it would come in handle for battle situations.

He checked outside the window to see that they were creeping closer to their destination.

"Are you really a prince for an empire?" Loki asked, breaking the silence. He looking unsure of himself as he asked that question.

"Didn't think it would take you this long to ask me that." Came Lotor's answer, trying to keep a smile from spreading across his face. "Being the Grandmaster's pet and all."

"He only mentioned to me once that you were the Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire and then went on to other topics like it was no big deal. With that information along with the signs that you left in the Arena made me wait this long to ask that question." Loki said with an annoyed huff.

"Oh that's all? Maybe I should have done a few more signs to have kept you from asking for my help to escape and that question." He teased.

"I probably would have asked you for your help regardless if you had sent more of those cryptic signs or not." Loki said with same slightly annoyed tone. Still he could see that there was a small smile on the other's face.

"Well that's the spirit," Lotor said letting himself smile widely."I am the prince of the Galra Empire that the Grandmaster has told you about. Currently trying to take down its current leader which would be Zarkon, my father. I believe that the empire as a whole needs a better leader than him. The citizens need someone who can rule them with trust, not fear."

"Admirable to say the least. If you can get Thor on your side, he would help you take your father down." Loki said.

"He is an amazing warrior from what I've seen. It would be an honor to fight beside him." He said with admiration in his voice. The many ways he could use the blond man in battle was too tempting to not ask the other to join.

"Not the only one." He heard Loki mutter to himself.

His smile grew a bit at that. "And of course you would be beside me. I need someone who understands my crafty plans I would use in battle after all."

The sounds of the gladiators waking up reached their ears. Lotor quickly shifted his focus from Loki to the window of the ship. They were close enough to their destination for the gladiators to start getting ready. Lotor doubt that there would be any kind of plan that would prepare him for going up against Loki's sister.

If she was anything like the man sitting next to him, then they were in a heap of trouble.

"Everyone get ready! We join the battle against Hela soon and I don't need to look after everyone!" Lotor ordered, steering the ship towards the place where Loki grew up. It looked amazing from a distance, beating anything that his father had tried to build with his empire.

Then he saw the state of the bridge where there was a mass crowd. Suddenly he wondered if there was enough gladiators take down Hela.

* * *

Sorry if it took a while to been busy for these past few months with school and writing. But the next chapter will be up quicker, I promise that!

Hopefully it's an enjoyable chapter for you! :D


	5. Chapter 5

He carefully navigated through the fog that had suddenly appeared when the ship had reached the edge of Asgard where the water that fell continuously into space. Lotor wasn't sure what made it possible for the place to have the water do that, but he hoped that could be used to their advantage rather be a hindrance. As he moved the ship to where he hoped to land close enough for the people to quickly get on, he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder.

Looking behind him, he saw that Loki had changed from the outfit that the Grandmaster had given him into something similar to the first outfit he wore when crossing paths with Lotor the first time. While the bright colours that Loki wore suited him, Lotor prefered the leather clothing much more. The only noticeable difference between those the two leather outfits was the golden horns that were on a thin golden band that somehow stayed on the Asgardian prince.

"That's a very flashy crown. Probably the flashiest I've seen in my travels." He said, focusing his eyes back to the front of the ship. If needed to, he could talk and navigate through the fog at the same time.

"This isn't a crown. Warriors of Asgard often wear a helmet into battle that they chose. I happen to choose these horns for my helmet to settle a bet with Thor and his friends when we were younger." Loki said, sounding a bit miffed at him. "Still this isn't quite like the helmet I had before everything happened. That was even more flashy than this one."

"It's nice to have a pleasant memory before everything that happened. But it still looks ridiculous, even if it does suit you oddly enough." Lotor said, a small smile reluctantly making its way to his face. He could hear the other's huff of irritation at his answer and he couldn't resist the smirk that took over his face.

"No doubt you would be the only one to say that to my face without any fear. The Warrior Three wouldn't even dare make a comment after the bet. Probably fear I would turn them into an animal if they insulted me." Loki said casually. He took the seat beside Lotor, trying to see if he could see anything in the fog.

"I was a Prince as well if you haven't forgotten. Ridiculous outfits are part of the nature of the royal families and one must look and act graceful in them if they want to be taken serious by others." He said back in reply, carefully stering around a circular building. "Otherwise leading an empire would be a hassle when the taking over from the previous ruler."

"Well if you convince Thor to help you to take down your father after this battle then I'd say you have a good chance of taking the throne." Loki simply said as he rose up from his seat. "It looks like we're nearing where Thor was planning to stage this whole thing. You better grab something to fight with."

"Is there any swords on board this ship?" Lotor asked, looking over his shoulder at the other man."Kinda hard to fight someone if there isn't anything to pierce their skin."

Loki paused at the doorway of the ship, seemingly thinking something over. As the moments dragged on Lotor wondered if the man was going to answer him. Just as he was about to turn himself around to continue piloting, Loki held up a hand to have a sword materialize in his hand. The sword looked like it was crafted like the daggers that Lotor had taken when he had first met the man. With an eloquent design that shouldn't make it functionable when using it in battle, but somehow managed to be useful against the enemy.

"Hopefully this will be useful to you in battle." Was all Loki said as he placed the sword in the seat next to him. Then he headed out of the cockpit.

Lotor gave the sword a glance before shifting his focus back to piloting. He could see the fog clearing up a bit, giving him a better view of what was happening. He could also see the beautiful home that Thor and Loki must have grown up in. It was leagues above the battle cruiser that his father had holed himself in, showing the beauty that was possible if they had settled down on a planet a long time ago.

Seeing the tall golden towers of the Asgard palace gleaming in the distance, Lotor saw a crowd of people huddled on a bridge. He could feel the desperation that they gave off as they tried to get away from something. As the fog started to clear up a bit more, he saw what they were running away from. Behind them there were several big fires that were spread out around the palace, burning everything to the ground. Then there was the impending army coming for the crowd, making their way steadily towards the bridge.

The only conclusion about this new information about the situation that made sense to Lotor was that Hela was going to kill the people who had hidden away from her. It made something inside him snap, angry that a ruler could be like that towards their people.

"Loki!" Lotor yelled, slowly the ship down a little bit. The situation had changed and they needed to adapt to it quickly or face the deadly consequences.

With his head full of black hair peeking around the door frame into the cockpit, Loki saw immediately why he was called. "Is she trying to gain all her power back by having no one oppose her? While a smart move, she has another thing coming if she thinks Thor won't fight for them."Loki said, leaning onto Lotor's chair. "He's noble like that."

"I think it would be easiest if we got the common people onto the ship while we let the stronger gladiators fight against the army. You and I will join Thor and whoever else he has with him against your sister. We must fight her with everything we have." Lotor said back.

"A wonderful plan for now. Hopefully we'll be able to follow it for these people's sake." Loki said, staying in the cockpit to watch the events unfold a little bit more.

Keeping his attention to piloting the ship with the fog to hide themselves until the last possible moment, Lotor asked "When will be a good time to execute it? The fog is disappearing much faster than I calculated."

"Heimdall will keep the army off the people for a few moments. We wait until it seems like all hope is lost."

"I dramatic approach." Lotor said with a flat voice. He started to wonder if it would be a good idea to get Thor's help if his brother was going to tag along and come up with little additions like that to his plans for taking on the Galra Empire. It didn't settle well with him at all. "Can't make it seem like your brother is the only hero today."

Loki didn't answer as they got closer to the crowd on the bridge. Lotor could see the nervous flutter that rippled through the crowd as they tried to move away from the looming army that was behind them without getting closer to the edge of the planet. He wanted to make sure that they arrived in time to rescue these people. It would guarantee that Thor would consider helping him going against his father along with given more experience with freeing people.

For a few moments the ship hung in the air, like it was waiting for something drastic to happen. Lotor watched as an Asgardian with a beautiful weapon trying to keep the army from harming anyone in the crowd. He saw Loki flick a switch on the control panel with a smirk on his face.

"Gentlemen I believe it is time to fight. Get your weapons and be prepared to jump from the ship in the next minute. It'll be a tough fight, but nothing that I doubt you can't handle." He said through the ship's intercom with a calm voice. Then he flicked it back off to hear the rousing cheer of the gladiators. Lotor was slightly impressed by how Loki could switch his personas flawlessly to get a job done.

"Hopefully I get to see how you fight against someone besides me." Lotor said as he started to land the ship. He could already hear some of the gladiators jumping from the ship, probably too excited to wait for it to land. "After all you were able to take me down with nothing more than magic and a dagger."

"You were still impressive to fight against. I doubt that if given a fair fight you would have beaten me." Loki admitted, looking at him in the eye.

"If there was a way to have a fair fight with you I would do it. Otherwise I'd rather fight your brother. He seems like he would be a challenge to prove oneself." Lotor said with a teasing tone. He could hear the scoff the other gave and it caused him to smirk widely.

"Now get out of the cockpit to show off yourself off dramatically. Or I'll toss you off of the ship to show undignified you are to your people as you fall."

With that Loki left. Lotor carefully landed the ship on the bridge, watching the rest of the gladiators fight the army from the window. It was uncoordinated as they pummeled the enemy and could use more people to end this quicker. But it was still enough that they were fighting for Thor and Loki's people, not expecting anything in return more than being helpful.

It was something Lotor wished he could do without having something in return from the person who asked for him.

As he got up from his seat and picked up the sword that Loki gave him, he hoped that however this battle ended that he would survive. In his mind there would no one else who would take down his father without having someone potentially worse taking his place. He would change the Galra Empire for the better, even if he had to violently drive off the Voltron team.

Taking in a deep breath as he grabbed some armour and put it on, Lotor let himself have a moment of his fear and excitement taking control of his body. He examined the emotions quickly, searching for anything that would distract him during battle. Then as quickly as he let them have control he reigned them in, letting the commander that was inside him take control.

As he stepped into the bridge, seeing the battle that went on around it. He could see two of the gladiators directing the mass of Asgardians towards the ship. Lifting the sword into the air, Lotor took off at the first soldier from Hela's army that he spotted.

As he quickly made his way through the soldiers, he noticed that they weren't quite putting up as much of a fight as he thought they would. They fought more like the druids that Lotor used when he was first learning how to fight with a sword. They had enough programming in them to give whoever was below or at their level a challenge. But when being able to easily take them down, they were nothing more than something that couldn't fight against someone as effectively.

These soldiers were the same way. They could fight against those battling them, but ultimately not offering up a tough challenge to those who were skilled in battle. He saw the one Asgardian from earlier, holding the same beautiful weapon in his hands. Lotor would see how he could take down several soldiers with a sweep of his arms and it made the side of him that appreciated power just sing praises.

As he forced himself to get closer to the mysterious Asgardian with skin that was a few shades darker than his mother, he also saw several other familiar faces fighting as well. From a distance, he could see Valkyrie using a giant weapon from the ship they stolen from the Grandmaster towards massive groups of Hela's soldiers. A short distance away from Lotor, Loki was fighting with some of the gladiators, reaching for his weird helmet occasionally when he couldn't use his dagger quickly enough. Down in the water there was the occasional flashes of the hulking monster taking on a giant animal.

The effort of everyone involved made it seem like there was enough hope to take down this villian. But something inside Lotor that wouldn't let him believe that they were winning. There was something missing from the information that he had gathered about Hela from her brothers or what he had seen so far.

Incomplete information on an enemy often cost a price greater than what could be imagined. Lotor bitterly remembered how one of his generals was being used to spy on him without his knowledge. Whether she had been innocent or not in the whole ordeal, it still made him extremely bitter that he couldn't have prevented what happened.

As he took another soldier down, Lotor found himself near the mysterious Asgardian. As they took down three more soldiers with the beautifully intricate sword, Lotor made his way over to the man. Even if it was a few feet between the two of the them, he wanted to get close to the Asgardian.

As the beautiful sword hung by the man's side, Lotor stepped up beside him. From the corner of his eye, he saw the how the sunlight caught in the unique eyes on the darker man. They shined in the light, making the pale golden colour seem even paler than they were. Lotor wondered if they were special in Asgardian culture or weren't as rare he may believe.

For few seconds silence hung around the both of them, the sounds of battle muted by the distance. Then he heard the Asgardian speak up. "It seems Loki has found a kindred spirit in these last few weeks."

"While it may see that way, I prefer to have people base their understanding of me on my actions, not the actions of others." Lotor replied, his voice bristling up just slightly.

He knew that the man was only making an observation, but he still didn't like the way it sounded. While he did note the similarities between himself and Loki during his time as a gladiator, he knew that there were stark differences between them. Namely that Lotor would dedicate himself to a cause he had belief in while Loki would switch sides that would benefit him at any time.

If he could, he wouldn't particularly want to be associated with Loki. It could make for a great plan to get back at someone if they didn't know they were working together, but only if he knew that Loki wouldn't betray him in the end.

"If you wish." The Asgardian said, looking towards the battle that was happening at a distance. "But I would advise to have him close by. It seems he has taken a liking to you and listens to your input when it comes to battles such as these."

"If it would curb his impulse to be dramatic for such battles then maybe I'll consider it." Lotor said with a huff. Still he could feel a smile trying to break out of his blank face.

"I am Heimdall, Gatekeeper of Asgard. What is your name strange warrior?" Came Heimdall's voice.

"I am Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire. I'm glad to have you as an acquaintance."

With that the both of them strode towards the battle, taking even more soldiers down with them. As the continuously fought together, Lotor knew that he would want these people by his side if he ever wanted to take down his father. No need to talk with the Voltron team for help, he would able to take the empire back by his own means.

When they got closer to the others, he noted that Valkyrie was walking towards the battle as well. The ship she had used before in this battle laid on its side, exploding a huge hoard of soldiers. It was quite a sight to see the explosion go off as she walked away without a care.

A short distance away from him and Heimdall, he saw Loki with a group of gladiators, fighting with passion he had never seen before. The way that he used his helmet to knock some of the soldiers towards the gladiators made Lotor store that move in the back of his mind to use for later.

As they all fought the groups of soldiers, they all moved towards each other, like it was an unconscious desire. Lotor felt Heimdall at his back, the muscles moving as quickly as the Asgardian willed them to. To his one side he saw Loki moving closer to him, sending him a playful smirk as he took another of the army down with a swipe.

With that Lotor took his childish challenge and started to use moves he hadn't shown anyone in the Grandmaster's arena. No these moves he only had used against his generals and other Galra soldiers when he had participated in one of the Galran arenas. He pushed his sword into the bridge, using the momentum to launch himself over the heads of the soldiers. As Lotor moved over them, he dragged the sword along with him and used it to cut off multiple heads.

As he landed on the other side of the collapsing soldiers, he looked over at Loki with a playful smirk of his own. He saw the miffed expression on the other's face before he went back to fighting.

It was enough that he had impressed Loki in moments like these.

As he was taking down another group of Hela's soldiers, Lotor felt the air crackling around him. Stabbing one of the soldier's in the chest, he saw the sky light up with an unusual pattern in the sky and that it went towards the Asgard palace. He watched in fascination as it caused an explosion on one of the many balconies. He could also feel something behind him taking someone down.

When the light quickly faded away from the sky, he looked over his shoulder to see Valkyrie standing over a mess of soldiers. Even as she tried to hide the fact that her body was starting to tiring out from the constant battle, the deep breaths that she took took in gave it away. Still there was a determination in her eyes that made Lotor understand that she wasn't about to stop because she was tired.

She was going to fight until there was nothing left of herself.

"I'm guessing that that was either Thor or the even lovely Hela would created the spectacular light show." He spoke up, looking back towards the golden palace.

"That would be Thor. He did say he was the God of Thunder when I presented him to the Grandmaster." Valkyrie said as she walked up and stood beside him. "Also the fact that Hela is the Goddess of Death. Her powers don't have anything to do with lightning."

"So that's what it was? Lightning?" Lotor asked, curiosity growing. While he had seen many planets in his life as an exiled prince, there was some things that were unique to only several planets.

"While it's beautiful, it's also very dangerous." She said. "Usually most beings can't take that much power that we just saw. Not even you I suspect."

"Well I wouldn't want to test it on myself. That would be another's area from where I come from. But it does prove the resilience that you Asgardians have." He replied. He knew Hagger would be willing to test any of her test subjects with this lightning to see if it could be used against any of their enemies. Probably to even test that Galra could survive it without much damage.

Valkyrie didn't say anything back, just had a grin that grew on her face at his statement. As they both turned to get back to their battle with Hela's soldiers, they saw the sky light up once more with the beautiful lightning. At the center of its source was Thor coming down towards the bridge.

As he landed on the bridge, Hela's soldiers ran at him. It was obvious that they were trying to take down the Asgardian, but Lotor knew it was going to be in vain as he saw a few stray bits of lightning moving about on Thor's body. When they were close enough to touch him a surge of lightning leapt from his body. They stiffened for a second and then fell to the ground.

Lotor could only assume that they were either dead or extremely injured as Thor walked towards the two of them. He could see the obvious difference from the last time Lotor saw the blond man. The empty eye socket indicated that at some point his sister had gotten close enough to take his eye. As Thor came closer, he could see that the blood was starting to dry up around the socket.

"I'm sure that whatever happened between the two of you, she obviously doesn't know how to take an eyeball out cleanly." Lotor said. His face scrunching up when Thor came close enough to see the inside of the eye socket. Some of the blood vessels were still slowly bleeding out, trying to clot up the wound.

While he was use to having to see Galra soldiers with injuries when visiting Hagger, it still didn't mean he saw them after having their limbs freshly ripped off.

"As much as I wished she had done a better job, I got her back with lightning." Thor said back light heartedly. "Now how about we get a plan to attack her even more?"

"You mean that didn't stop her?" Valkyrie spoke up, waving a hand towards where the lightning was earlier. "I thought we were early enough that she hadn't gain all her power back."

"Obviously that's not the case." A new voice said, startling the three of them from their conversation. Turning his head, Lotor saw that Loki had walked to their group, leaving Heimdal and the rest of the gladiators to fight off the rest of Hela's soldiers. He only looked a little out of breath and his hair showing that it would start to tangle.

"You're late." Thor said simply, turning his attention back towards the palace.

"And you're missing an eye." Loki replied back, like they were all stating the obvious.

Lotor rolled his eyes at the both of them. "If we could get a makeshift plan to take down your sister in the next few minutes, I would rather the two of you not bicker. Especially if it means that I get to claw Hela's eyes out." He said, holding up a hand with his claws extended.

"If this is revenge for my eye, I'll welcome it." Thor said to him, smiling brightly. In return Lotor smirked as he put his hand back down.

"How about we pay attention to our surroundings? This isn't over yet." Valkyrie said, pointing towards the end of the bridge with her weapon. They all looked where she was pointing and saw what could be one of the most formidable foes that they have ever seen.

On her head was a helmet that was even more ridiculous than Loki's. The pitch black horns spread out like the branches he had seen from the huge trees on Olkarion. Surrounding her eyes was smudged black makeup, making the fury that were in her eyes seem even more intimidating. The suit she wore was also black with green accents winding up her legs.

All in all, Lotor knew that she meant business as she came towards them.

"I think we need a plan and quick." He heard Loki say. There were murmurs of agreement with him as they tried to think up something that would help them. It was obvious that she needed to be kept occupied while all the citizens of Asgard were taken away from here.

"Somehow we have to distract her from your citizens. Otherwise this will be in vain." Lotor said, looking at Thor. He could see the Asgardian mulling over what he said.

Then he looked back towards his citizen, concerning evident by his face. "But it wouldn't end there. The longer Hela is on Asgard, the more power she draws from it. She would only come after us, hunting us like we're prey. We need to stop her now."

"And what would that be your majesty?" Valkyrie asked with a sarcastic tone. Lotor saw the fire the was shimmering in her brown eyes, wanting to do something quickly.

"I'm not doing "Get help." Loki provided helpfully. As Lotor was about to use his claws against the other man for his comment, Thor looked towards the palace that was behind Hela.

As he was about to start a petty fight, Thor was able to shock him enough to stop with his hand in midair. "Asgard's not a place, it's the people." Thor said softly, like he was saying it to himself. "This was never about stopping Ragnarok, it was about starting it.

"Are we sure about that?" Valkyrie questioned. The shock on her face was enough to convince Lotor that whatever Ragnarok was, it was something serious to these people.

"I'm sure. Loki go to the vault. Use Surtur's crown. It's the only way."

"Bold move brother, even for me." Loki replied back. And then he ran off, leaving the three of them to decide how to handle Hela by themselves.

She had gotten closer and Lotor could start to feel the one part of his brain to panic. He knew that she was extremely powerful and could probably go against his father by herself. It was something he never wanted to think, knowing that there was more than one person like that in the universe. Even if he could convince himself it would be good to have the practice for the future, Lotor knew that she needed to be taken down.

He would not have someone else take his place on the throne. The Empire needed someone to change it into something better.

"I'll take her head on. The both of you back me up with distractions so I can get her to be down long enough for us to escape with your citizens." Lotor said, steeling his resolve within himself. No need for him to break down when he was needed most.

"We'll provide your distractions." Valkyrie said, cutting off anything that Thor was about to say.

With a smirk, Lotor extended his claws on both his hands and then grabbed for the sword he had sheathed momentarily. Glinting in the sun, he would this sword to take down this villian with everything he had in him. "Shall we?"

"After you." Thor said.

He took a deep breath in. Then he took a running leap towards Hela.

* * *

Well this was a quick update. I was extremely motivated to get this chapter the next chapter will be the last for this fic,but I will have more planned once I've seen Avengers Infinitey and see how that will play out. Then from there I'll try to see how Lotor will weave himself back into the Voltron part of the Universe.

Hopefully this was anenjoyable chapter to read! Certainly a lot of fun to write ! :D


	6. Chapter 6

As he came down from his running leap towards Hela, he wasn't surprised that she tried to take him down with a few tricks of her own. She had pulled a few long daggers from thin air and would throw them at Lotor at a speed that could break his bones if they made contact. As he knocked them away with his sword, Lotor saw for a few moments Hela seemed surprised that he could manage that. But before he could understand what this look meant in its full meaning, she changed her tactics as he landed in front of her.

Using one of her long daggers she thrusted forward, aiming for the middle of his body. Even with how fast she did this, Lotor blocked the hit. He could feel the strength she possessed as she pushed against his sword when it made contact, trying to make him lose his footing. It was a clever move if one wanted a fight to be over with quickly. It used their opponent's moment of weakness as they stumbled forward to be able to stab them in the gut. Depending on where you landed the sword or dagger, it could be a fatal death in one go.

Forcing himself to push back against her dagger, Lotor made his body shift into a different stance. It would focus most of his energy on keeping her at bay while making sure he wasn't pushed back.

From the corner of his eye he spotted Valkyrie moving around the fight trying not to draw attention to herself. It would force the three of them into a situation that didn't hold much favour for them to win. Lotor knew that Thor was close behind on the other side of him, quiet in that body of his as he snuck around his villainess sister. He could only hope that either of them could provide a distraction for him to at least land a solid hit against Hela.

Leaning a bit with his sword, he got closer to her than he wanted to. While Hela had a more angular face than some of the female Asgardians he's seen, she still had a beauty and grace to her that someone could fall for. But it was hidden by the helmet that she wore and how her face held her emotions. As he leaned even further, Lotor could see the excitement that captured her face and burned brightly in her eyes.

"I suppose you wouldn't be a bad challenge for me. The rest of them were hardly a challenge, especially the one who sounded like my father." She said, pushing her dagger against his sword a little harder. It made him waiver for a moment, but it wasn't enough for her to strike him yet. "Such a shame that an alien from somewhere else can go up against me for this long rather than my own people."

"I will have to give gracious thanks to those who have taught me for so many years." Lotor replied back with a biting tone. "They did always try so hard despite my blood status."

With that he pushed against her dagger hard enough to make her stumble back a bit. Still she quickly blocked his hit and forced Lotor backwards with the strength of the dagger and herself combined. Quicker than he could comprehend it, Hela moved to skim one side of his body. His suit that had managed to hold up against everything in the Grandmaster's Arena and the battle with Hela's soldiers. But still it had a limit.

It was torn off by her dagger, pieces of the clothing falling to the ground or following the dagger as it continued to move. With one side of the torso part of suit shredded, he knew that if he didn't get her into another stalemate then that would be the end to his flight suit and his body. After all she was playing with him at the moment, not being completely serious with her blows.

As she went for another strike to take the rest of his flight suit, Lotor managed to weakly block her. She moved away from him for a quick moment before coming back at him with speed he could never achieve. Another weak block and he was forced to kneel on the ground with a dagger to his neck.

She moved around to stand behind him, tittering slightly as she did. Looking up and behind him, Lotor could see the cruel smirk on her face. It was like the grim frown his father wore whenever he didn't do well with his training against one of druids, haunting him even hours after the man left.

As he forced himself to look back down to the bridge, he could see from the tatter part of the suit he wore that his skin was slowly turning from light purple to a medium brown. Internally cursing at himself for his body betraying him at such a time, Lotor hoped that when this fight was over that he get someone to teach him how to control his altean side of his heritage.

"I will have to take over your people once this foolish endeavor with Thor is over. It would be a shame for Asgard not to take over your seem to possess something that would be worthy to us." Hela said slyly, confident that she would win. She touched the one side of his ribcage that was exposed to the air, almost in a gleeful fashion. It made everything in his body want to tear her limb from limb in as cruelest way as possible.

"With my own hands I will make sure that you never see my Empire nor anyone else who can't defend themselves from you." Lotor spat at her. "You deserve none of your own people nor anyone else's. They do not need a ruler who thinks of themselves and not of their well being."

With that he quickly made his arms move backwards. Using most of his strength, Lotor pushed her away and quickly tried to strike her as she momentarily stumbled. He heard the cracking sounds of his bones shifting to accommodate for he just did as he made his arms move over his head. Hela stopped his sword quickly enough, but didn't put enough of her own strength into the block. The dagger was quickly forced from her grip onto the bridge with some speedy movements of his sword.

Instead of excitement etched into her body and eyes like before, there was this madness that Lotor had only seen in his father and Thanos when things didn't go their way. But it didn't frighten him like he would have expected. It just made something inside him grow stronger, wanting to bring her down even more.

It made him feel like the Emperor that he should be.

He could see Thor and Valkyrie standing a short distance behind Hela, seemingly waiting for a moment that they could do something to her. They had their own stories with the woman, wanted to see her go down as much as Lotor did right now. It was that sort of comradery that he never understood that was among his father's soldiers before. They easily accepted they would die for the Empire and their own if that was needed. Now that he understood why they would do such things with such ease, he wanted more of it.

"What makes you think that you're right? That your way is any better than mine?" Hela asked viciously. The madness burned brightest in her eyes and looked like it would burn her up from the inside out. "You did say you had an Empire after all!"

"I want the people to be happy after everything they had endured from my own father. That is where we differ in this point in time and where we shall always differ." He said back, speaking calmly for the first time with her in this fight.

Lotor made eye contact with his two companions and they immediately started to move. With a leap backwards, he knew he couldn't fight any further. It wasn't in his place to boldly take down Hela when it should be someone else to do the job. Lotor watched as the two Asgardian Warriors move fluidly to take down the villain. Hela barely had any time to react before they were upon her, like a vicious hunter after their prey. Still she fought back with strength that continued to grow the longer she stayed on this planet.

It was a beautifully crafted fight that only they could play their part in.

Lotor moved towards the palace, knowing he should check in on Loki. From past experience he was mischievous enough to do find something in there for a future backup plan. As he took leaping bounds from the small houses, he saw more of the beauty that Asgard held. The branches of the trees moved softly in the wind and the way the light placed itself on surrounding objects to make cool shadows was everything he wished he could have had when growing up.

But the shining gold of the tall towers of the palace was something else that Lotor knew he would never see again in his travels.

As he entered the palace and went through deserted hallways, the resounding sounds of the battle between Thor, Valkyrie and Hela echoed from outside. There was no indicator of who was winning the fight. But he hoped that it was the Asgardian warriors that he had grown to like that were winning. He would hate to have to face Hela again, especially if she tried to team up with his father.

As Lotor passed by an ajar door, he felt wisps of something cold trying to wrap itself around his ankles coming from it. Despite the flight suit being partly destroyed in his torso area, it still protected his legs from anything that could potentially harm him, which included feeling different temperatures such as hot or cold. Whatever was coming from the other side of the door was powerful enough to get past the suit's protective layer.

Taking a step towards the door, he could see the stairway leading down into darkness. Still it didn't bother him as he felt his eyes quickly adjust to it. The darkness went on, not showing any sign of light peeking through the brick walls nor anywhere that could be the other end of the staircase.

The small wisps of coldness that he had felt at the door became stronger the further he went down. Soon Lotor tightly wrapped his arms around himself to try and gain some warmth as he continued down. While he had dealt with cold temperatures on several planets, this was beyond anything he had come into contact with in his life.

Just as he felt that he had lost hope of seeing light or gaining any warmth, Lotor stumbled down the stairs a bit. As he stood back up after gaining back his balance, he saw a few stray beams of lights that were coming further down the stairs. Quickening his pace, he soon found himself at a wooden door and it was covered in a thick layer of frost.

Putting a gloved hand to the door, he could feel the cold seeping into the fabric like it was alive. As he put both his hands to the door, he forced himself to push it as hard as he could, even if he was exhausted from the fight with Hela. It didn't budge the first time he did it, but after his third attempt it moved jarringly away from him.

Lotor was bathed in light from the fire in torches that were placed around the room. Somehow the frost managed to keep itself from putting out these fires as he made his way into the room and felt his body shivering violently as he felt the full effects of the coldness.

On one side of the room he saw Loki standing near something that held an unfamiliar object to Lotor. It was vaguely square in shape and have a mixtures of blues all over the sides that resembled frost. It had captured Loki's attention, as he kept moving one of his hands over it, keeping him from noticing that Lotor had entered the room.

From a distance, Lotor could see the same blue skin he saw from the ship earlier. Stepping as quietly as he could on the frost covered floors, he made his way to Loki. He knew that he would have to quietly convince the Asgardian to start whatever Ragnarok was to defeat Hela. It was their only possible chance at gaining back freedom, especially if Lotor wanted these people help him on his conquest to take back the Galra Empire.

As he stood a few steps away from the other, he saw the sorrow that Loki had in his eyes. All Lotor could come up with was that something had happened in the past concerning whatever the object was. Maybe the reason why he turned blue and could make everything he touch become covered in frost.

Or it was another reason that he couldn't think of.

With a low cough he caught Loki's attention. The sorrow that was there before was hidden by a mask that the Asgardian seem to be able to pull up at a moment's notice. He could do it much better than Lotor could ever do.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have Hela distracted for the moment. It would seem wise to start Ragnarok and get out of here as quick as possible." Lotor calmly stated. He saw the quick glance over that the other did, making possible guesses as what happened to him during the battle against his sister.

With a quiet sigh, he moved his hand away from the mysterious object. "As much as I would like to take the Casket of Ancient Winters with me to do finally get rid of it, it seems better it get destroyed here." Loki said softly with one last look towards the casket. His skin started to fade from the dark blue back into the extremely light colour of skin that Lotor seen him have. "Shame that I never got the time to learn of my heritage after everything that happened."

"Still could learn about it. Could forage something new instead of learning the old." Lotor said, moving closer to the Asgardian.

"It seems that's what will happen after Asgard is destroyed today. The Jötar will surely be glad that they'll rule themselves instead of by me or any other Asgardian." Loki said back. "They don't particularly like me after what I tried to do to them a few years back."

"A story to tell me in the future? After we survive this?" Lotor asked.

"After we flee from this place as being destroyed. We Asgardian must start anew and do better than our ancestors did. Then I will tell you the story of being a Jötunn." Loki said going towards one of the other mysterious objects.

As he waited for the Asgardian man to do to cause this Ragnarok, Lotor eyed the Casket of Ancient Winters. While it didn't seem much to an outsider, it must be powerful enough that it had to be taken away from the Jötar. Maybe the power came from the people rather from the object itself which was why it had to be taken away.

He briefly touched it with a gloved hand and felt coldness seeping into the cloth. Lotor held his hand there for a few more moments, taking in the sting that the coldness caused. Then he took it off as he felt the building over the both of them dangerously start to shake.

Looking over at Loki and seeing something alive growing from a pit of fire. As it grew larger and larger, Lotor dashed over to the Asgardian, unsure of what he should do. The building over their heads would collapse soon once this creature grew large enough and it was growing too quick for the both of them to try an escape from the room without getting horribly injured.

Then he felt Loki's hand clasp one of his shoulders. It was a tight grip combined with the fact that his hands haven't turn back from his Jötann form, creating sharp pinpoints of pain through his flight suit. Looking into the other's eyes, Lotor felt confused on what they were trying to do.

"Might want to hold on to me. Its rough the first time for anyone." Was all the warning Loki gave Lotor before he started to use his magic.

Quickly making a grab at the Asgardian's shoulder, he started to feel the effects of the magic that was being used on the both of them. It felt vastly different from the battle magic that Loki had used in the Grandmaster's Arena or the magic that hagger and her followers used in the Galra labs. It felt a tad softer as it spread across his body.

Then he felt himself being stretched out and being put back together a million times in several dozen ways. As he tried to make sense of it, trying to see if he could understand what was happening to his body when Lotor felt his body being put back together one last time.

As he took in his new surroundings with a dizzying headache, saw that Loki was unaffected by what just happened. Lotor took in a few deep breaths to keep his body from unheaving contents from his stomach and to get rid of the headache he had gained.

"What just happened and why are you unaffected?" He growled out. He leaned against the metal wall of the ship, finding that it made him less likely to throw up.

"We teleported out of Asgard. If my calculations are right, Asgard and Hela should be destroyed in a few minutes. Hopefully Thor and the rest of his ragtag group have begun escaping or we'll all be dead." Loki replied calmly.

"Do you always take such risks or is this only because of your teaming up with your brother?" Lotor spat out, still trying to make his stomach not empty itself out.

"I won't take anything you say in the next minutes to heart. Teleporting like that for the first time is always an experience, especially those who don't use magic." Loki said, walking away from Lotor. All he could do in return was send a threatening growl.

All he got for that was laughter that echoed down the hall of the ship.

It took a few hours of sitting against the wall before he could move around without feeling sick. Some of the common folks that passed by him as he stayed like this gave him a look of awe. A few even thanked him as they walked by, not staying long enough for him to grunt out a welcome. But it was enough that they were grateful for what he did for them.

It was more than he would ever get from his father or Galra soldiers.

As Lotor made his way towards the center of the ship, he felt someone playfully pat his shoulder. Looking to the side he saw Valkyrie giving him a play smile as she walked beside him. She had cleaned up a bit from her battle with Hela and seemed to be in higher spirits than what he would have expected. She was also a lot taller than then he remembered, reaching his shoulders rather than his chest.

"What happened after you left us? How did you get on the ship without getting hurt?" She asked. "Why haven't you changed back to your other form?

Feeling his eyes widening, he looked back down at his torn suit. There was still the same warm brown skin of his Altean form, mocking him for not leaving. "Odd. I thought it would have returned back to normal after a while."

"Maybe you should stay like this for a while. Seems to suit you like your other form and doesn't look like it would cause any harm," She pointed out. "Still it's your choice."

"I'll have to think about that." Was all Lotor said back.

They quietly walked towards the biggest room on the ship, housing many of the common Asgardian folk. They seemed content with what they were given even with supplies low. They seemed like the kind of people that could survive anything as long as they were together.

Valkyrie dragged towards the side of the room where there was giant window showing the black stretches of space. With a few stars and planets dotted in the background, it reminded Lotor of the observatory decks that he would visit when he was younger, trying to find comfort in something other than the books that his father had given him.

As they reached their destination, he saw that Thor had covered up his missing eye with a patch. It suited him fine, making him look more like a weathered warrior than Lotor had seen from him. But it also meant that he had it checked for any infections and whatnot, giving Lotor faith that he would be around longer.

On one side of Thor there was Heimdall, standing proudly with his eyes focused out the window. With the soft glow from the stars coming through the window, his golden eyes also softened up a bit along with his face appearing to be more gentle than the warrior he had seen in battle. While the warrior in him appreciate the fierce form he had seen from the Asgardian, Lotor could also come to like the softer side of the man.

Besides Heimdall was Loki, looking more refreshed and less like his Jötann form since the last time Lotor had seen him. There was eye contact between the both of them, a silent agreement made to make time to discuss certain issues later.

On the other side was the gladiator Korg, holding one of his friends in his arms. He stood proudly, finally a leader of a revolution that had happened from his contribution. Valkyrie took her place next to Korg, urging Lotor to follow her.

He slowly took his place next to Thor, smiling back at him when he was given a kind smile. For a few seconds he felt like he belonged to something that was bigger than himself or his goals.

"I see that you've changed your appearance. Looks like Loki has someone to be his partner in his schemes." Thor said with a soft chuckle.

"I would prefer not to be part of his schemes if I can help it. He would probably ditch me to see how well I could get out of the mess he created." Lotor replied. His voice gave away that he was teasing and Thor's smile grew even bigger.

"But that's the fun isn't it?"

"You could say that." With that Lotor ended the conversation, knowing there were more important matters to discuss. Thor shifted his gaze away from him to Heimdall.

"Where shall we go? We need a place for the people to settle down and continue to grow." Thor questioned the other Asgardian, looking for guidance.

"We will go where you deem it best. There is hope among us and the people that you'll choose what is best for us." Heimdall replied. His voice sounded as lovely as the last time Lotor heard it and he would wish he could stop gushing.

"Then we'll go to Earth. It seems our best bet at the moment."

With that everyone stayed for a few more moments by Thor, taking in the sight of the never ending darkness of space. Somehow it was a comfort that they could go anywhere and settle down to rebuilt what was destroyed.

It was that hope that Lotor found admirable within the people that his father had taken over. That they could escape his clutches and start anew without fear. Then he turned away from the window, looking to find a spot to sleep.

He certainly needed it after everything that had happened.

* * *

The last chapter of this fic! I'll have a one shot sometime in the future for the conversation between Lotor and Loki about their other forms, as it is something I want to explore bit. Hopefully I can get it done before I start planning around Infinity War and further beyond.

Anyway I hope this was an enjoyable chapter to read as it was for me to write! :D


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